


In Gold Leaf Letters

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Libraries, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 19:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10472325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Ed’s opinion of the lackluster library in Resembool is about to change forever.





	

Edward had been to many places, had seen magnificent sights, heard fantastic tales and had dined on some of the world’s most exotic cuisine, though nothing ever felt quite like home.  But even so, there was one thing he hated about Resembool, and that was it’s pathetic library.

It was little more than a large shed, maybe the size of a one car garage, and the books were normally so outdated that they weren’t pertinent anymore, or the condition they were in had them falling apart at the seams and rendered unreadable anyway.  Al had suggested he buy it from the owner and make it his personal mission to provide Resemboolians with decent reading material, and while he entertained the idea briefly, he decided to hang on to the last of his research funds instead, especially after Granny sat him down and taught him about finances and how much bills at the Rockbell house were.

Normally he wouldn’t have even given the little white building a second glance, strolling right on past it to the bar at the end of the street.  Nothing like a cold beer on a hot day, after all.  And usually travelers would stop in from time to time and he could continue to keep his finger on the pulse of the world outside sheep country.  But today, he stopped in the library because Winry had sent him there on a mission.

* * *

_“I don’t know the title, Ed!” she barked as she laid in bed, garbage can next to the bed and some ginger ale on the night stand.  “I have the call number for it, and I obviously can’t go get it myself…”_

_“Jeeze, alright,” Ed huffed, taking the slip of paper from his wife’s hand.  He noticed how pale she looked, and asked in a nicer voice, “You need anything else while I’m gone?”_

_Winry smiled weakly.  “No, I think the book will do it.”_

_Something about her eyes made him wonder what this book was, and why she couldn’t remember the name, but knew the long complicated call number.  “Alright, I’m gonna go before the heat of the day sets in.  I’ll be back soon.”_

* * *

And now here he stood in the tiny library, call number in hand, and glancing at the shelves for this mystery book.  He was pleasantly surprised that there was even a decimal system in place.  He expected it to be set up alphabetically by title or author.  This was certainly going to make things easy then. 

“Okay then, let’s see what we’ve got here,” he murmured to himself as he began scanning the spines.  The piece of paper had “618.24 Ei83w” written in Winry’s precise script.  He skipped quickly past the periodicals and reference books, ignored the philosophy, religion and psychology sections…  There was a small section on law and culture, an even smaller section on languages, then he came to section he visited most in the larger libraries: the 500’s with its science, chemistry, mathematics, alchemy and astronomy.  It had gotten better, but it was nothing compared with even Central’s smallest library.  Sighing in disappointment, he continued on to the 600’s and then recognized the section: medical science was in this denomination.

At first, Ed thought nothing of this; Winry was an automail surgeon and regular research on particular parts of the body were nothing new.  Probably had a difficult port surgery ahead and wanted to refresh her memory on certain nerves and blood vessels… or something like that.

“608… 613… 616…”  His finger skated along different spines tracking down his target.  “618.1… 618.21, .22…  Ah, here-”  His eyes widened upon seeing the title.  “No way…”

He tugged the book slowly out, noting two things: one, there was a piece of paper tucked in the book with his name on it, and two, he felt like he going to faint.  He flopped down in the floor cross legged and stared at the book.  “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” was printed along the front of the cover, with a gold leaf illustration of a baby in a cradle dangling from the bottom portion of the letter ‘c’.  Ed took a moment to catch the breath that had run away from him so suddenly, and then opened the book to the page it had marked.

 

_Ed,_

_Guess who’s having a baby?_

♥  _Winry_

  
“Holy shit…” he breathed.  Then slowly, his mouth began to curl at the corners and he soon found himself beaming.  He’d had it all wrong.  Ed had been to some impressive libraries in his travels, but this small, under-stocked and pathetic small town book shack was undoubtedly the best one he’d ever set foot in.


End file.
